


legacy (planting seeds in a garden)

by theriveroflight



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Domestic, Family Bonding, Future Fic, Gen, Ladybug Miraculous, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:14:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27336994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight
Summary: Inheritance is a funny thing.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi, Louis Agreste & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	legacy (planting seeds in a garden)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PurpleFlower04](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleFlower04/gifts).



> This Louis is not the same Louis that eventually becomes Lenore in my other work about the cast's descendants.
> 
> Louis: biologically Marinette and Adrien's  
> Jeanne: biologically Luka and Marinette's  
> Emilie: biologically Kagami and Adrien's
> 
> but they share all four parents so it doesn't really matter
> 
> For the following prompt, a prize for Flower's win on a bingo card for the NY special:
> 
> One of Mari’s children finds a box. They open it, and put on the earrings inside. Tikki comes out and realizes they’re one of Mari’s children.
> 
> What happens is up to the writers that do this. Go wild!
> 
> I took a couple liberties by having Marinette give him the box.
> 
> Title from Hamilton soundtrack. A special thank you to missnoodles for beta reading this.

“We have a gift for you,” Maman says. “Or, your Papa suggested it, but it was up to me to determine if you should really get it. Since you got your ears pierced, we’re giving you a special pair of earrings. They used to belong to me. I hope that you’ll use them well.”

Louis takes the box. It’s a small elliptical sphere, spotted red and black like a ladybug. Why would his mother be giving him something Ladybug related?

“Don’t open it here,” she says to Louis, firm but with a thrum of excitement underneath. “Head back up to your room to open it. I think you’ll like it. I hope you will. And I hope I’ve made the right choice now.”

“Really?” Louis says. “Thank you.”

Getting his ears pierced is something that he’s wanted for a while. But he only just got them done, and now he’s getting some sort of family heirloom pair of earrings that belonged to his mom. Aren't family heirlooms a thing of the past? 

He stands up, and goes to scale the stairs, skipping a step between. When he enters his room, he gently shuts the door behind him and goes to open the box.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the box. A bright pink light came out of it, and he closed his eyes as it swarmed around him. When it dimmed, he saw...a ladybug-spotted thing in front of him.

“What...are you?” he says, looking at it.

“Marinette?”

“How do you know my--” The pieces click. The...earrings, they were the Miraculous of Ladybug all those years ago.

Louis’s Maman was Ladybug, and his Papa had been Chat Noir based on what he knows of Ladybug and Chat Noir. He hadn't realized before, but it makes sense.

“I’m her son,” he says firmly to the creature. “My name is Louis Agreste.”

“Tikki. It is very nice to meet you. So it’s been…far too long since I saw the outside of the box. Marinette must have decided to give you to me for a reason.”

He takes out the little studs he’s been wearing since he got them pierced, and places the Miraculous in. “You’re the thing that made Ladybug herself.”

“Marinette was already a hero. I just gave her some extra help with it. I’m a kwami.”

“Kwami. Okay.” Some kind of alien, he presumes. Has to be otherworldly in some way.

“The Ladybug Miraculous is the Miraculous of creation,” Tikki begins.

“I know the powers of the Miraculous. The footage of my mom from back in the day still exists. I know most of it. The power of creation, Lucky Charm, creates a single object that is useful in some way, five minute timer for teenagers.”

"You do seem as though you know a lot. Did she ever tell you?"

"No, not really, but I knew. I grew up watching adaptations of Ladybug's story on the TV, some more than others. It's been commercialized since they left the public sphere, though it appears that there might be something big coming if she passed down the earrings to  _ me." _

"I don't precisely know exactly what, but you'll have a good mentor behind you and whatever the threat is you'll face it together."

Louis nods. "Let's do this."

"Do you want to transform, or do you want to speak with your mother?"

"I'm going to talk to her. Ask her what's going on. If she'll...if she'll trust me to know the threat I may be facing."

Tikki nods firmly. She dives into his pocket. He takes a deep breath. "Come on, you got this," he mutters to himself.

And he walks down the stairs.

"Maman?"

"Louis, do you need something?" She and Dad are in the kitchen, making dinner. Papa and Mother don't normally join. Jeanne and Emilie are nowhere to be found, his sisters...somewhere?

"Can I talk to you in...private?" He scratches his head scalp near his ear, drawing attention subtly in the hopes that she'll understand.

"Of course. Mind taking over for a bit, Kagami?" she calls towards Mother.

Mother comes over. Dad looks over at Maman. "I'll only be gone for a couple minutes. It's a three of us talk."

Mother and Dad exchange a glance.

Maman walks briskly past them. "Come on, Adrien, it's...box-related."

"Oh, okay." He nods and stands up. Maman presses a fast kiss to his cheek. Louis follows the two of them into Maman's office. "You gave him the earrings today?"

"I did," she answers.

"Why did you?" Louis asks, putting his question out there before they get too wrapped up in their own discussions to focus.

"We were informed by Bunnix from the past that the next interstellar war is almost upon us. And we're going to need a team of capable holders to take them on. Your sisters may be among them, but not at the moment."

"...who else?"

"Well, we're currently scouting for more. They may be strangers, they may be your friends. But since the aliens won't be able to take advantage of your identities, you won't have to keep it secret within the team. When we have it together. We chose you because you already are a leader with your sisters. We're just starting by distributing the higher up seven of the Miraculous - yours and your partners, the Fox, the Turtle, the Butterfly, the Peacock, and the Bee."

"In the future," Papa adds, "we may add the other 12, but we don't want to start with too big of a team."

"Okay," Louis says, trying not to overload on information. "Are you going to train us?"

"We're going to focus on you and your partner when we determine who it'll be."

He's nervous, but...he's been entrusted with the fate of Paris, and maybe the world. Anyone would be scared.

* * *

There has to be someone else, too.

_ Meet the new Ladybug @ old Ladybug & Chat Noir statue at 20:00. _

The note appears along with the ring.

And so she goes to meet whoever it may be.

"Allée-traverseuse," she says. "What's your name?"

"Red." The English word, interesting.

"I suspect this will be a good partnership," she says, smirking.

**Author's Note:**

> Allée-traverseuse translates to something like "path crosser," which references the superstition - "if a black cat crosses your path, you will receive bad luck"
> 
> Please join the [ Miraculous Fanworks Discord server](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks) if you're interested in participating in events such as future bingos like the one that prompted this fic, as well as meet a growing community of fellow content creators in the Miraculous Ladybug fandom!
> 
> Follow me elsewhere online, if you want:  
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